Akemi: Princess of Bandits
by K.I.T.I.Productions
Summary: When Jing ends up in another big city, all is not as it should be. What's with this girl who matches his skill? And why do their paths cross so much? PLZ R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Pass the Diamond

**Akemi: Princess of Bandits**

**Chapter 1**: Pass the Diamond

**Disclaimer**: I own no characters or concepts from King of Bandit Jing, but I do own Akemi. But for the most part, a fanfiction is just that therefore most of the concepts are not mine. Meh.

**A/N: **wondering why she has the compulsion to write author notes so much Hmmmm...well, what is there to say? Jing is also a concept I am slighlty new to. Not quite as new as Shaman King so any mistakes I make in this are purely stupidity on my part.

Enjoy!

x x x x

She was doing a job in the big city. She, like Jing, was going for the biggest fucking valuable in the place.  
Obviously, they ended up going after the same thing. Several conflicts are produced from this.

"Hey, no way. I'm stealing this diamond!" the king of bandits said when he saw that someone else was already there before him.

That someone was a beautiful young girl who seemed to be 15 in appearance. She was short and fragile wearing a short, black skirt with net tights and black metal enforced combat boots. A net shirt was over a loose, black tank and arm warmers. Her hair was a deep plum colour with several layers and split ends, her skin silvery as a midnight moon.

"Oh wait, Jing! Hey gorgeous! If you go on a hot date with little ol' me, we'll give you the diamond with absolutely no problems," Kir said in his usual flirt fashion every time he laid eyes on a beautiful woman.

She sent them both a death glare before backflipping off a wall and grabbing the diamond hanging from a chain above their heads, "Tough luck suckers!"

And with that, she ran off as the place began to break apart and guards ran in after them.

"Ahhh! JING! GET HER!" Kir flapped his wings vigourously.

"I'm on it!" Jing yelled as he ran as fast as he could to keep up with the girl.

She dived over the cliff down into the city ahead and waved and grinned on the way down.

"Kir, you know what to do!"

"Way ahead of ya!" Kir latched onto Jing's collar and flew swiftly after the girl.

"YOU AIN'T GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY!" Jing yelled and laughed. He was having a quite a fun time on this chase.

On the way down, she pulled out her gun and shot at them. When it was time, she held out her hand grabbing a horizontal flag pole, flipping and landing on her feet on a rooftop. Her grin widened, "Really? I beg to differ!" She shot the flag pole breaking it down, grabbed it and swung at them.

"Ah shit. Kir, EVADE!"

She skimmed one of Kir's wings, but he flew faster and got right in her face, "I believe you have somehing of my friend's!" He took the diamond in his talons and flew off.

"AGH! You damn bird!" She shot out the right wing and fell over the side of the building while catching the diamond in mid air.

"Damn it! She got away with the diamond!" Kir mourned over his wounded wing.

"Eh...calm down, Kir," Jing pulled the diamond from his pocket as Kir was about to disagree, "We'd better get a move on though. If she's as good as I think, she'll find out very quite and catch on to our trail..."

Just as he finished the sentence, a bullet pierced the right side of his chest, "Thank you...King of Bandits!" she grabbed the diamond back.

"Ahh! Damn it! She must've hung over the edge waiting for me to confess! Kir! NOW!" though they were both wounded, the bandit king and Kir used the last of their energy to blast her and catch the diamond.

"Yeah! We got ...it..." Jing stared down at the girl unconscious and bleeding severly on the ground. It was pretty amazing that she survived it. He sighed, "Alright , lets take her to a hospital. Damn conscience..."

Kir looked at him as if he were crazy, "Are yo serious? Just leave her! Especially after what she just did!" He was trying to bandage his wing with his bandanna.

"We're taking her and that's all."

x x x x

Later after taking the girl to the hospital, they decided to go to a bar to grab a bite to eat. As they entered they could hear people pointing at them and commenting on how he almost killed the "princess of bandits".

"Geez, you'd think a funeral happened...well lets get that food, I'm starving after that exciting chase!" Jing laughed as his stomach made the usual hungry noise it did when he hadn't eated in days.

A huge man stepped out in front of them before they could make it to their food. He was a giant! He crossed his arms and glared down at him, "I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you..."

Jing smiled big, "Hehehe. Well sir, no I'm sorry you must be mistaken," he began to walk past him.

The giant grabbed him by the collar and lifted him so they were face to face effortlessly. He shooks him forcefully and the diamond fell into his hand. Then, he threw Jing through the bar and left quickly.

"Who the hell was that guy!" Jing growled as Kir fused with his hand, "Bingo! KIR ROYALE!"

The giant ducked down out of the way just in time and then got up and ran into the building across the street.

The almost blew up the whole bar with the Kir Royale. The Manager wasn't too happy with that and threw them out, "Damnit! What's so important about that thing anyway? Well in any case, I want it!" Jing followed the giant man silently

Deep into the building, Jing found the man presenting the wounded girl Jing fought earlier with the diamond. She took it and smiled at him, "Thank you Balford..." her voice was cracking because the blow had centered on her neck and chest. Now she was only wearing baggy bondage pants while most of her upper torso was covered in a thick layer of bandages tinted red from the blood. Jing was amazed at the almost full recovery!

Balford bowed, "You're very welcome, Akemi-hime."

"Akemi" dropped it into her pocket and tried to stretch her arm but ended up cringing in pain, "Agh...that damn man...he must be the one they're all calling the King..."

Jing was becoming impatient with this game of keep away, "Okey Kir, try and aim for the big guy's legs and her side there...got it?"

"Easier said than done, but here goes nothin..." he fired out of now where and managed to temporarily paralyze the man from the waist down. Akemi jumped out of the way in time but the diamond flew out of her pocket.

"Hah! Got it!" Jing ran back through the hallway as quick as possible.

Akemi ran after him, slower than before due to her injuries, but still effective, "Why is this thing so important to you? Jing! King of Bandits! Am I mistaken?"

They stopped in a messy, filthy living room and faced one another, "Heh, maybe," He took out his blade, "Here i come! Kir get ready! he threw the diamond to her and he caught it with slight difficulty, "You know where to meet!" And with that, Kir flew through one of the windows.

Akemi grabbed the arm with the blade and held her own dagger to his neck, "Now you know I can't let you leave, right?"

"Heh and you know I **don't **go down easily!" He "teleported" behind her and put his blade at the back of her neck, "I don't wanna...well, okey maybe I do wanna kill you, but I don't have time for that," he ran.

"Nice Kir! Now, while she's playng sherlock and thinking she's smart trying to find us, we'll slip out the "back way". C'mon, how's your wing?"

Kir flapped the newly bandaged wing that was healing quickly, "As ready as it can be right now. Let's get the hell out of here!"

Akemi saw them flying through the clouds trying to escape out of the city and grinned, "They're pretty dumb for taking the sky route...Hah!" She shot into the air as she did flips up to the rooftops and jumped up high enough to grab Jing's ankle.

Jing's eyes widened and he stared in shock down at her, "WHA...? Damnit! She's...not that bad. "Persistant son-of-a...Kir get ready to blast over there,"He pulledo ut his blade again and cut her hand.

"KIR ROYALE!"

"AGH! YOU IDIOT! NOW WE'RE ALL GOING TO..." she almost dropped, but held on, then blasted Jing with her gun in the floot by accident causing them all to fall to the ground. Akemi landed on Jing and then Kir on top of them both. Kir jumped up and whined about his wounded wing while the other two slowly pushed away from each other.

"OW! Damnit!" Akemi held her side in pain.

Jing, being the lucky one of the group, was fine and ready to have his questions answered, "So, what's with this diamond, do you know?" he held it out in front of them.

Kir yelled disapprovingly, "What're you doing? Let's get the hell out of here now!"

"Kir, relax. Get your energy back...we'll need it..."

"Hand it over and then I'll tell you!"

Jing sighed and hit her gun away from her before she could get the idea to grab it and use it on him, and then pinned her down with her hands behind her back, "Now, you **will **tell me the importance and then i'll give it to you! Happy?"

She glared down at the ground and gave in, "It's rightfully mine...that's the importance..."

"Oh really, and how do I know that?"

She rolled her eyes, "Flip it to the side with the engravement on it."

He did so and when he held it up to the light he could make out a single sentence, "With love, my Akemi." He was surprised at first and then nodded, "Oh, okey...here catch," He threw it to her begrudgingly, "Well, for what it's worth, it was a fun chase...have to do it again sometime..."

"Obviously, my name is Akemi. I'm the princess of bandits," she smirked at him through her messed hair, "And I see why they call you the King."

"Yeah, but I think I'm gonna have the worst back pains ever..." he tried to crack his back to make it feel better, but it wasn't working.

"Heh, I could counter that pain easily..." Her smirk widened, "For a price."

"Nah...it'll heal...hopefully. Thanks anyway!"

"So, now that we're all good...how's about you and me go on a romantic date," He winked at her.

Jing laughed, "Back to liking her again, eh?"

Akemi moved away from Kir, "Sorry, I don't date outside of my species...and besides. I've never dated before, I'd end up just stealing your money and killing you," she casually replaced a round of bullets.

"Hmm, well, let's go Kir. I'm still starving," Kir flew onto his shoulder and Jing smiled over his shoulder at her, "Later Akemi, princess of bandits."

Akemi returned the smile, "Farewell...Jing King of Bandits," She bowed to him and he walked away.


	2. Chapter 2: A Terrible Trisome

**Akemi: Princess of Bandits**

**Chapter 2**: A Terrible Trisome

**Disclaimer**: I own no characters or concepts from King of Bandit Jing, but I do own Akemi. But for the most part, a fanfiction is just that therefore most of the concepts are not mine. Meh.

**A/N: **I forgot to mention this in the first chapter. (Kiti - Forgetter of many things) The first two chapters are almost exactly made up of the Jing RP me and Djin did. Of course, as to be expected, stuff was added and excluded. More was added than excluded, but yeah. Mostly corrected spelling errors and OOC was excluded. Though, there were parts that I didn't catch that were there that really didn't make sense. So yeah.

The first two chapters were brought to you not just by Yuichi Kumakura (holy shit, I actually know the name off hand!) and me, but also Djin. Praise him while reading this or die. He'll most likely contribute more as well, but not as much as in Shaman King because this time I'm the one who got him obsessed, not the opposite.

Have fun!

x x x x

"It's about a half a year since that day..."

"Oh, quit dwelling, Jing."

"I'm not dwelling, Kir! Shuddup!"

"Whatever..."

"Grab the goods and lets go...I think I hear someone coming!" Jing held a few large bags of gold and jewels over his shoulders and ran for the exit.

Kir held his own bags and followed after him, "Jing! That sounds getting louder! It's footsteps!"

"Yes, I noticed."

The footsteps continued to grow louder and closer until the plum haired girl from half a year ago turned the corner with four heavy bags over her shoulders. She stopped when she spotted the two unusual looking guys ready to defend with surprised expression.

Jing straightened up and smiled. For the past week he'd been having dreams about the princess of bandits, Akemi, and the thought of her came up unexpectedly, like a few moments before. They finally made sense. It was a sign of what was to come. They happened to turn up in the same place again looking for the same thing. She was on her way out with her load silently. Unlike his handy work, she sneaks in and out without killing anyone or breaking anything. People don't notice the valuables were missing until she'd left town. It was only a matter of time before Jing would blow something up, trip an alarm or something to make his presence known.

Jing's smile turned into a smirk when he saw that signature sardonic smile of Akemi's appear closer in front of him, "Well, not bad catch for you, need a hand?" He teased her small stature.

Akemi laughed, "Nah. I think you already have your hands full with your own baggage."

"Well, aren't you a sight for sour eyes! Jing was just talking about you!" Kir was delighted to see her.

She smiled, "That's strange, you guys are usually screaming about me!"

"Well, you grew on us, you could say..." Kir raised his eyebrows.

"Kir, I already told you I don't date outside my species."

"It was worth a shot!" Kir laughed.

"So, where are you headed, princess?" Jing smirked.

"Was thinking I'd head into a tavern for the night. I'm beat and haven't eaten in quite some time."

The three left together talking like old friends and entered the tavern for the night. Jing flipped a few coins in his palm, "You hungry?"

"You buying?" she tilted her head and grinned.

Jing raised his brows and slammed more than enough money onto the table, "I'm buyin'."

They had a big feast due to the loot Jing just gathered up. After a while, Jing was staring at Akemi, a question playing in his eyes and trapped between his lips. Akemi noticed, "There a problem, Jing?"

It took him a while, but he finally came out with it, "So, you wanna go to the City of Fire? I heard they have the Inferno Emerald. That oughtta be a fun catch. Hehehe, whatta ya say?"

"Yeah! But who gets the emerald in the end if we're working together? I say we make it a contest..." she had a daring gleam in her poisonous green eyes.

"Heh, sure! More fun! Personally I thought that we could just share it, but that's good too," he offered a smile.

"Hmm...how would we share it? We're not exactly together all the time, y'know?"

"Yeah, it was just an idea. We'll do whatever...let's get some sleep shall we?"

The three head up to the room they decided to share. Jing kicked off his boots, threw his trench onto the table and jumped onto the bed sighing happily, "Amazing bed...mmm!"

Akemi laughed at the sight and threw one of his boots at his head, "Hey! Don't forget! We have to share unless you wanna pay more money for another room! Turn over!"

Jing rubbed the forming bruise on his head, laughed and turned over. She smiled and removed her hooded jacket and boots before laying down with her back towards him, "We'll discuss the terms of the deal more tomorrow...g'night."

"'Kay...'night," Jing said this just barely awake. She envied his ability to fall asleep quickly.

x x x x

The next morning, she was up before both of them. Akemi smiled at how cute the two looked when they were asleep. Kir was curled into a ball of feathers in Jings coat pocket and Jing was almost hanging off the side of the bed. The next move he made would most likely be the one that woke him up.

Akemi put her shoes back on and decided to leave her coat this time. She wondered down the stairs into the bar area where people sat drinking and conversing. She ordered up a bloody mari and downed it wisely.

It was a while before the boys ambled down the stairs wide awake and looking for her. When Jing found her just sitting there and staring at him, he paused and sniffed, "Hmm...food?"

She smiled and pushed a plate towards him with cooked fish and chicken, "Sure is."

"Hehe, thanks. You didn't have to pay, y'know. I could've done it."

She waved him off, "Nonsense. What kind of bandit turns down free shit?"

Jing rolled his eyes, "I dunno. So, you ready?" he'd already finished his food.

"I am...doesn't look like your friend is though," she pointed to Kir sleeping on the floor.

"Heh, Kir...I'll just drag him along," he grinned.

"Hah! Nice friendship..."he handed her messenger bag and coat and they were on their way.

"Do you like the heat? Needless to say, it's a blaring inferno in there!"

"I have no preference. I move too much to have one."

"Works for me. Well, here we are, the god forsaken city of fire. In any case, the emerald is located in the center of that tower. Right about the molten lava...the hell fire."

She nodded, "Competition, or Teamwork? You choose this time."

"Hmm...we'll go with your idea this time. Ready?"

Akemi smirked and got into a ready stance Set...

"GO!" They split.

She easily made it into the room where the emerald is. She can see it but it's heavily guarded. From across the room, Jing threw a stone to the other end of the room. The next thing she knew, Jing was running away with it.

"Hn! Jing!" Someone came up from behind her and grabbed her around the waist and mouth before she can react to him, "Mmm!"

Jing fiddled with the inferno emerald a little more as each minute dragged by like mini eternities., "Hmm...she should be on my back by now. Rrrr...they must've got her! Come on Kir!" they ran back quickly in search of her. They arrive slightly too late to prevent damage.

Kir fused with Jing's right arm and blasted them into oblivion, "KIR ROYALE!"

Everything was filled with smoke and Kir flew out with carrying Jing by the coat, Akemi in his arms. There was a large gash on her forehead where they knocked her out.

"Kir, back to the tavern!"

A few hours later, Akemi woke up with a majour headache and bandages wrapped around her forehead. She was confused and had no idea what had happened.

"Good to see you're awake," Jing said cheerfully, "Have a nice dream?"

"No dream. Just pain," she cringed as she said this.

He draped his trench over her shoulders, "There, it can be warm in that thing, but it's freezing here. Here's some medicine to help your head. Picked it up a few hours ago for ya."

She sat up and leaned against the wall with pulling his trench tighter around herself and swallowing up the medicine, "Ehhh..." she held a hand to her forehead.

Jing felt a little guilty about her injuries. They should've stuck together and then he could've prevented this. He caught himself in mid thought. What was he thinking? He never felt bad about anyone or anything before. Because he could fix the things he'd wrecked before. He sighed in frustration, knelt down and put am arm around Akemi's shoulders, "You'll be fine, don't worry about it," he shot her a big bright smile to hopefully make her feel some comfort.

"Heh...I know. I've have worse wound than this. Remember when we first met?" she managed a smirk.

"Yep! That was interesting...fun too. You put up a very good chase."

"Yeah, fun."

There was a mini silence between them all in which Kir had fallen asleep. He'd been well on his way to slumber while the two had be speaking, but now it was official because Jing had to catch him before he fell off the table right onto the floor. They laughed when he still didn't wake up.

"Sooo...you won. What happens from here?"

"We just keep looking for treasures. That's the only way we can live anyway...as bandits." Jing sat down next to her again.

"Yeah, that's a given, but I mean...us. Are you implying that we're going to be partners or should we see where we meet up again?"

"I dunno...do you wanna separate? Personally I...eh, it doesn't matter what I think..."

Akemi smiled and stood up returning his coat to the chair at the table and exchanging it for her own, "I always say, 'Three times is the charm.'" she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

She grabbed her beg and stood on the window sill staring at him. Before diving out the window, she dug into her coat pocket and threw him the diamond with the engravement on it, "If we meet again...then we are destined to be partners..." she left swiftly through the window and out of sight.

Kir had woken up when she'd dropped his coat onto the chair and had been listening, "You think we're actually gonna see her again?"

Jing smirked at Kir, "Something tells me, yeah we are...and I can't wait for that"

"Hmm. And something tells me someone has a thing for the lady bandit!" Kir grinned.

"Huh? HEY! Shuttup! I do not," Jing glared at Kir, but there was a slight blush in his cheeks.

Kir laughed, "Oh my little boy is growing up so quick! Hahaha!"

"Oh yeah? And suddenly I feel like bird stew!"

"AHHH! Jing! I'm just playing!" Kir flew through the window away from Jing who followed him dropping down into the city and on.

x x x x

Akemi gracefully moved through the crowd undetected. She was becoming a larger target for bounty hunters now that there was news that she and Jing had teamed up. She couldn't believe how a week with the king of bandits had heightened her "popularity" among the locals of several cities.

The funnier part of it all was that their teaming up happened over a year ago!

On her way to the big loot, she casually pocketed a few wallets, jewelry and even books she'd had her eye on. Treasures weren't her only targets, she was quite fond of literature as well as music. She liked to refer to herself as a "Renaissance woman". In other words, a woman of many interests and talents.

The city of Akron was a fairly large one with a fairly large treasure deep within the bowels of the underground, or so it was rumoured. Akemi found herself thinking back to Jing and Kir. They always went for the larges loot, like she did. She wondered how much they'd changed within the year, if they changed at all.

"Hay! Haven't seen you in a while...look out!" Jing just pushed her out of the way of daggers.

"Whoa! That was close..." she stood up, can't helping the smile on her face, and dusted herself off, "Thanks again..."

"Yep, now...there's two gems. Here take this one!" He grinned and handed her a deep green gem bigger than her hand.

So this was the famed royal gem of Akron. Supposedly, it would light your way through darkness when needed. She didn't doubt it's abilities, she just didn't think it was all that great. It obviously reacted to the lack of light and would glow in poor light as well as no light. Akemi had a certain knowledge of things that most people didn't these days. All the reading she did helps a lot.

The thing about the two gems, aside from their "amazing abilities", was that she had had both of them in her bag. She smiled and shook her head, "Someday you won't be able to take shit from me, you know that right?"

"Heh, yep! C'mon though, we have to get going. To the nearby tavern then?" he grinned happily pointing in the direction.

Akemi's smile brightened, 'No, of course he hasn't changed. He's still the funny, insane guy I know...' she thought to herself.

"Ehhh...helloooo? Anyone home?" Kir landed on her head and knocked. Apparently, she'd zoned out in her musing.

"Oh! Yeah, lets go!" She ran out with them feeling a certain bliss she hadn't felt for a quite a while.

"So the next treasure...is at the "Country of a Thousand Kings," Jing declared fro his seat across the table in the room they'd decided to "borrow" for a few hours.

"That's nice, wonder how many kings there must be...heh," Akemi said sarcastically wearing her sardonic smile.

Jing knew it so well for only spending a short time with her. It made him happy everytime he saw it, "Mhmm...well, for what it's worth, there's said to be a treasure fit for a thousand kings. Hence the name, I guess!"

Kir glared at the spiky headed king of bandits, "And why didn't you tell me about this before?"

Jing shrugged, "Well, would it really make a difference?"

Kir didn't answer but still glared. Akemi laughed at them. Two little boys arguing over pointless things. Like brothers.

"And how would just two young bandits and a crow take every last piece of gold out of that place without being caught?"

"Hehe! Let's just say...there's three big gold pieces..."

Akemi raised an eyebrow at him, "How big?"

"Ehhh...big enough for us to carry I guess! We'll worry abut that when we get there. It takes two days so let's get going! There's usually a boat out by the sea north of here. We can take that," Jing hurried them along.

"Alright. Sounds like a plan then," she played along even though she had her suspicions.

They boarded the ship soon after and once they get there, found an inn to plan out what they're going to do about getting the gold.

"Well, there's three pieces and three of us. Each of us will just have to take one piece each," Jing stated.

"That works. So, where exactly are they located?" Akemi added all this up to see how they'd handle the job. Jing was still acting sort of odd, so she expected there to be something he was leaving out. She had to be prepared of anything right now. One wrong move could mean execution for them all. Though, Jing wasn't the only strange thing around this town.

"In the tallest tower over there. That makes for a pretty good escape."

"Yeah...it does...almost seems suspicious how that works out..." Akemi stared out the window at the building Jing had told her.

"Yeah, but the surprise makes it all the better!" Jing grinned.

"Heh...I guess..."She continued to stare at the landscape with an uneasily feeling in her gut. In all honesty, she didn't like surprises at all, unless they benefited her. Something told her the surprise they would encounter wouldn't be good for any bandit doing this job. She sighed slightly, "So...teamwork I'm assuming?"

"Maybe. Why, you wanna compete again? Something you have against teamwork?" Kir said.

She shook her head, "No...I'm fine with it...especially with someone who's worthy of my time. It's just...this place...it seems off..."

"Yeah, you're right, but I'm sure whatever comes our way we can handle!"

It seemed to take no time in getting to their destination. She barely remembered the run through the city with Jing and Kir.

Once there, she inspected the room they were in quickly. Suddenly, it became clear to her! "I've got it! I know why this place seems off! We're being watched! And I don't just mean here...we've had eyes on us since the moment we stepped into town! Lookit the walls...they're thick...and that right there..." she pointed to the room next to a stair case with its door wide open, "That wall ends too soon, there must be something in a hidden room..."

Jing was surprised at her outbreak at first but was struck with clarity as well, "Oh wow...which means we only need to do one thing then...hay, Akemi, see those knives and blades over there?" He began to pick some up, "Start throwing them!"

"Got it!" Kir and Akemi launched many at several places in the walls.

Jing moved next to Akemi and whispered quickly, "Trust me, it's like a confusion spell. Find the odd eye, the "sacred" one and push that to open the damn door!"

As they continued their plan, they were amazed to find that nobody had come to arrest them yet, "Seems they're having a tough enough time trying to find the us since they're still not here yet...hehe..."

"Figures...the only people who seem to have no problem finding us is each other..." she smirked.

"Got that right! Ah-hah!" He pushed the button in, "Here it is and treasure is ours!"

They took one look at the treasure and froze in their places. The three coins were well over seven and a half feet tall!

"Carrying size, eh?" she glared at Jing. So this was the detail Jing was leaving out.

"I guess...they're pretty damn big, huh?" he offered an uneasy smile and sweat dropped, "Well, as for our way out...KIR ROYALE!" he used Kir to blast a hole in the wall, "Take a coin and lets go!"

"Ugh. Messy way out..."

"Well...it's something..."

"Boys are so messy..." Akemi shook her head, "Don't know how I'm going to "take a coin" though. I'm less than half its size!"

"Well, they're somewhat light, see? You should be able to take one..." he began rolling one to the hole in the wall. There was now an annoyingly loud alarm buzzing throughout the city.

Akemi gave Jing a blunt look, "Y'think they can hear it? Or perhaps they mean to annoy us into the guillotines?"

Jing laughed, "Hah! No idea, but it's a long drop. We won't make it by jumping unless we want a mess like we almost had last time..." he gave Akemi a look who returned it innocently. Jing looked to his bird companion, "Kir, do it up..." Kir began to glow and then grew into a phoenix like form.

Akemi gaped in shock, "I didn't know he could do that..."

Kir yelled, "Hurry up, I hate doing this...gives me a damn headache..."

Jing politely helped her with her coin, jumped onto Kir's back and held a hand out to her, "C'mon lets go..."

In that moment he looked almost like some sort of fallen angel in his ripped rags and the setting sun behind him making his features glow. Akemi felt so insignificant...or maybe it was just her desire to read her new book that was making her delusional.

Kir flapped a little to get her attention, "Hey, girl! Wake up!"

She snapped out of her moment, "Alright alright, I'm hurrying..."

They began to fly away on Kir's back in victory, but they weren't free yet. Harpoons began firing out at them.

"Ahh damnit all!" Akemi took out her gun and fired at the harpoons to deflect them away from Kir.

"Kir, faster!" Jing yelled dodging harpoons himself.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"If it helps, I did see some pretty hot girls farther that way...no lie!" Jing winked at Kir and smirked.

Kir gasped and fired off at warp speed, "REALLY?"

"AHHH!" This caused Akemi to quickly cling to Jing from behind, "Too...fast!"

Kir slowed down as they got out of reach of the harpoons. He glared up at Jing, "Where are the hot girls, Jing!"

He sweat dropped, "Ehhehehe...I had to say something to save our asses...didn't I?"

Kir growled, "If there aren't any women where we're going, I will drop you off!"

Jing laughed, "Okay, okay...head west. I guarantee there will be some there in Lakeshore."

They arrived at Lakeshore bar and hurried to a room. Akemi was still recovering from the whip lash while Kir hovered over her and Jing stared out the window. They had to go hide the coins somewhere else because of their size. There was no way they were getting anywhere with them without being forced to run to another town.

Jing turned to them, "Looks like we scored big time, eh?"

"Yeah..." she managed to grin, "Even if it wasn't my style."

"Your style? And that would be?"

"In and out. Quick, silent and easy. NOT messy..." Akemi glared at him playfully.

"Sorry! I needed to improvise and it was the quickest way...so I took it. Besides, I got excited!" He laughed and crossed the room to give her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and stared at him in shock.

Jing grinned, "That was returning the favour...and also a thank you."

Her shock disappeared and she smiled knowingly.

"You're welcome."


	3. Chapter 3: Akemi's Fiance! pt1

**Akemi: Princess of Bandits**

**Chapter 3**: Akemi's Fiance!

**Disclaimer**: I own no characters or concepts from King of Bandit Jing, but I do own Akemi. But for the most part, a fanfiction is just that therefore most of the concepts are not mine. Meh.

**A/N: **Meh. The delay is due to the fact that I'm losing inspiration. Sorry peoples.

But, in any case, not sure if I mentined this or not (and am too lazy to open the other documents to find out), some "screen caps" and sketches of Akemi, Jing and Kir can be found at my sheezyart account. Feel free to tell me what you think. (sheezyart sn: saviisav)

x x x x

Jing and Kir hadn't noticed her absence on the last mission. Or at least she didn't think they did. She quickly slipped out of the allies next to Jing and then in front of him, grabbing randomly at his pocket in the process. She turned and walked backwards grinning at him miscieviously, "Heya."

"Hi," he returned the grin.

They walked like that for quite some time in silence. Suddenly, Jing stopped and smirked, "Can I help you?"

"Nah. Got it covered."

Kir was perched on Jing's shoulder just watching in confusion. Apparently, there was some situation happening between the two that was completely invisible to anyone watching. This seemed to happen a lot with Jing and Akemi. Several times throughout missions together, just a glance at one another and they could perform a complicated, synchronized display of their skills.

"So...Akemi, where were you that last mission?" Kir decided to interrupt their little 'telekinesis' connection.

Akemi shrugged, "Had something to take care off."

"Really now?" Jing said crossing his arms.

"Yu-huh," she stuck her tongue out at them both.

Jing approached her and pulled something of hers out of his pocket, "What's this?"

Akemi went wide eyed as she saw one her books, her journal, in the hands of the king of bandits, "Give that back!"

He moved away before she could grab it, "Tell me what it's about! I enjoy a good book from time to time!" he'd never seen her lose her cool like she had right that moment.

She flustered, "None of your business!"

"Well, then I think I'll go have it analyzed then..." he put it back in his pocket.

"Argh! You damn thief!" she lunged at him angrily.

Jing jumped out of the way, "Look who's talking!"

He would've been free of her if he hadn't forgotten that she matched his skills almost completely. He went to jump back thinking there would be enough time to step aside and trip her, but she was faster than that. She launched herself up at him, wrapped her arms around his neck, did a 180 degree swing to his back and tightened her grip choking him from behind, "Give it here damnit!"

Jing was taken aback at first but then smirked, "I suppose you earned it..."

He picked the book out of his pocket and held it out for her. Keeping one arm around his neck, she used her left to grab it. He pulled it away quickly, "But first I want that back."

Akemi knew what he was talking about. She giggled and pulled the crystal with a woman in it from her own pocket and they traded, "Been nice doing business with ya." Jing put his precious into his pocket, as did Akemi.

Kir went back to his perch on Jing's shoulder and sighed, "Jeez, and this is was happens when two bandits 'team up'...C'mon, lets get back to our room. I'm beat...and wanna visit the two girls in the room next to ours!"

Akemi rolled her eyes, "You know, women aren't prizes and things..."

"You're just jealous...but you had your chance..."

Akemi grabbed him by the beak and pulled him closer, "I swear you'll never be able to woe a woman ever again if you say that!"

Kir whined in fright and Jing was leaning his head away from them, "Done yet? Y'know, you pulling him like that actually adds weight on my shoulder and it hurts."

Kir and Akemi glared at him and he laughed, "Hahaha! How cute!" he pointed.

"Why you evil little...!" Akemi jumped on Jing as Kir flew off his shoulder just in time as the two teens plummetted to the ground.

Jing was still laughing, "Wow. What was that?"

"That was a warm up. This is me killing you!" she pinned him to the ground and help a dagger over his face.

Jing laid there grinning up at her coolly, "I'm waiting."

Akemi made the mistake of hesitating, because he heaved up and easily flipped her over putting her into the same position he'd been in. She glared at him, "I hate you."

He grinned, "I know."

The sun was beginning to set on the horizon by the time they returned to their room. Much arguing and fighting occured along the way, not unsual. Exhausted, the three quickly took to slumber, Kir sleeping in Jing's coat pocket, Jing and Akemi sleeping back to back on the bed. If Kir hadn't been so tired, he'd have said something smart about it.

x x x x

Jing woke up sweating and shaking with the loss of breath in the middle of that night. He couldn't remember the nightmare, but it shook him pretty badly. He turned over the find Akemi missing from her place. His slight surprise was settled when he found Akemi's fragile figure sitting in a pool of moonlight under the window. For once, she didn't look so rough and childish. She almost looked pure and free of flaws. Was he still dreaming?

Akemi's head snapped up in his direction, the moonshine catching in deep, poisonous green eyes and making her skin ghostly. This was a different Akemi than he knew.

"Jing..." her voice rang through his mind like a soft bell.

Two options ran through his mind; this was the real side of Akemi nobody ever saw...or a new one she never knew she had. Her eyes bore into his like daggers.

"Jing..."

"Yes, Akemi? What is it?" he knelt down near her, but before she could answer...

x x x x

"Jing! Wake up! It's time to go!" Akemi's voice was normal again and she was slapping him with his boot.

He slowly opened his eyes once the bludgeoning stopped, "Hnn? Sleep..." he rolled over.

Kir began laughing from across the room and Akemi flustered, "Jing, King of bandits, get your ass out of this bed before I take your precious jewel!" she picked up his coat and picked through the pockets.

"Alright! I'm up!" he flew out of the bed and grabbed the coat.

Before he knew it, they were on the next ship to Locke. None of them had any idea where or why they were going. Just that the town was called "Locke" and supposedly there was something legendary there called the "Moon Stone". Obviously, the people there claimed it came from the moon and that it had special "powers" of sorts. Akemi didn't seem to buy into it, but Jing and Kir would believe anything for the sake of dangerous "fun".

When they docked, they were at a loss of where to go! Suddenly, a man on a motorbike sped up beside them and stared at Jing, "A moon is located up high, right? Maybe search higher, rather than lower, would help your search," and with that, he sped away.

Akemi cocked a brow, "What the hell! Who the hell was that? Jing?"

"Higher..." Jing was gazing up at the buildings. That's when he saw it, "That building right there! If you look at it the right way it almost looks like a crescent."

Kir and Akemi tilted their heads several ways before they got it, "Ohhh! You're right!"

"C'mon, you two. Lets get a move on," Jing said as Kir perched on his shoulder and they began heading for the building. They were barely into the town square when somebody stepped in front of them.

He was very tall with long, flowing auburn hair, hazel eyes and a somewhat feminine face. He wore very expensive looking satin clothing, obviously royalty. He immediately approached Akemi, "Excuse me if I'm being rude and too forward, beautiful miss, but..." he kissed her hand, "I believe I'm staring pure beauty in the face!"

Jing cocked a brow, "Jeez, and I thought it didn't get worse than Kir..."

The man ignored Jing and continued, "I am Prince Caim, and judging from your beautiful plum coloured hair, green irises, dark attire and...this..." he pointed to the chain sticking out over the collar of her shirt, "You must be Akemi, the Princess of Bandits."

The chain had a silver skull and crossbones for a charm and was given to her by a very advanced bandit she'd outwitted some years back. It was from that point on that people had begun to know her as the princess of bandits. It was known as the "charm of the bandit princess" in some peoples' views. She pulled her hand away, "Maybe...I forgot..." Akemi raised an eyebrow similar to Jing.

"Hehe...well in any case. if you didn't hear, my name is Caim, my princess."

Jing, having seen quite enough of this, stepped in and threw a chicken bone at Caim's head, "Y'know..." he spoke with a mouth half full of food, "That...is one way of treating a girl, but not the way for her. No offense, but all I'm saying is...she hates you, if you can't see that."

"And what makes you so sure of that, huh?"

Jing shrugged and stood next to Akemi, "Jus' lookit 'er face...it says it all."

"Not your princess, not anyone's princess. Go away," Akemi walked away with the most freaked out look on her face.

Jing grinned, "See? Told ya," he and Kir caught up with Akemi.

They entered the building liked they owned it and were in and out quicker than they thought they'd be. They'd run right past the guards with ease and found a huge room with millions of valuables, obviously belonging to the king. Jing had, of course, come for only one thing that he'd found interesting; the moon stone. He mumbled something about it but Akemi couldn't make it out.

"You ready?" he asked once he got what he came for.

Akemi was admiring a giant painting up on the wall of a couple and their baby. She had a pretty good idea of who they were, in fact, she knew exactly. That prince Caim and his family. They didn't look like a happy family; they looked detatched. Like it was only so because it had to be. Jing stood next to her and observed the painting as well, "I don't think we can fit that out the door honestly..."

Akemi shook her head, "Never said I was gonna take it."

"Jus' saying!" he grinned.

"Lets go," she quickly swooped down and picked something up that Jing couldn't see as she made her way to the door.

After the big excape, the three ended up sleeping under a bridge for the night. Akemi enjoyed it there more than their times in the tavern. Rooms made her feel trapped. Especially with the doors closed. She slept easy that night.

x x x x

They were woken up the next morning by loud music. Akemi glared groggily in its direction, "Ugh, such annoying sounds."

Jing was still on his back and yawning, half awake, "Uh-huh..." suddenly, he sat up and yelled causing Kir and Akemi to jump out of their skin.

"Aaaahhh! Don't you make noise!" Akemi yelled back at him.

"Ow. Leaned on something sharp," he picked up a sharp piece of glass that looked like it had once been part of a bottle.

She glared at him, "That's it!"

Jing sweat dropped, "Um...yes?"

Akemi rolled her eyes and sighed, "Shall we getgoing now that we're so nicely awake?"

"Sure!" Jing was suddenly wide awake.

She twitched slightly and then stood with him, "Don't get too excited, you might hurt yourself."

The moment they climbed the ladder up to the bridge they were bombarded by a band and many people. The three stared in confusion. Prince Caim moved to Akemi and took her hand like before, "The fair and beautiful Miss. Akemi, I'm so glad to have found you!"

It was Akemi's turn to sweat drop, _'You can't honestly tell me he couldn't find me under that bridge...'_

"Hey, I thought Akemi told you to beat it!" Kir growled portectively.

That amused Akemi, but Prince Caim was not pleased. Though, the frown on Caim's face turned to a grin when he said, "Welcome, the two of you..." he pulled Akemi close to him, "To our wedding!"

Kir and Jing were in shock just then, "WHAT! Wedding! Akemi, when did this happen!"

Akemi was just as freaked out as they were about the whole situation, "Never! I am not marrying you!"

Prince Caim laughed and held her hand up for her for all to see, "Oh, don't you remember? This is the engagement ring I gave you last night! You weren't saying no over our dinner..."

"What the fuck! What dinner!" Akemi was getting truly frightened now. Had she sleep walked? What was going on?

Jing looked at her seriously, "Did you really, Akemi?"

"No! I don't even remember doing anything last night except sleeping under the bridge!" she pulled away from Caim back against the side of the bridge.

"Well, you must have forgotten. No matter, you said yes and you will marry me...and be queen of Locke!" he advanced on her and tried to kiss her.

"Whoa!" Jing stepped between them and pushed Caim away, "As far as I heard, she denies it happening. And she denies your request for marriage. So she _will not _go through with it. Got it?" he sent Caim a death glare from behind black bangs.

Kir hovered in front of Jing, "Yeah. Got it?"

"Oh! Is that a challenge?" Caim grinned.

"I...uh..." Kir looked to Jing who never faultered.

"As a matter of fact, yes it is!" Jing's sword appeared from within his sleeve.

"Fine then. We'll do battle and whoever wins become Miss. Akemi's groom. Deal?"

Jing was too preoccupied on keeping him away from Akemi to realize what he was agreeing to, but Kir stared wide eyed at all three of them. Akemi was looking down...hiding a blush. Kir smirked to himself.

"Lets get this over with. I've about had it with you!" Jing yelled and waited for Prince Caim to attack first.

He easily dodged the beautifully designed sword made specially for the prince with ease. Jing smirked as he immediately knew he had the advantage. Caim didn't seem to be too skilled in swordsmanship and not only that, the sword was heavy in his grip. Jing's advantage would be speed and most likely trickery. He stepped back as Caim attacked once more.

"This should be over quick..." Jing swung his sword and their blades clashed.

The sad part of all this was that thesheer force of Jing's blade was enough to shatter Prince Caim's! He cut him across the chest a little to scare him off, which worked nicely. The villagers all ran away along with their Prince leaving the three alone. Jing cleaned his blade and put it away, "We should leavenow, before they decide to come back."

"Jing...are you okay?" Akemi was almost scared of his serious tone.

He turned, grinned and laughed happily, "Of course! I just don't wanna humilliate him again!"

Kir and Akemi let out a suspenseful breath they'd been holding. She smiled, "Wait a minute..."

Akemi removed the ring from her finger. She suspected that he'd slipped it on when he'd grabbed her hand, but then again, she did sleep like a rock. She leaned over the bridge, skipped the ring off the surface of the water and watched it sink quickly. It was followed by a stone skipping the same path. Akemi laughed and shoved Jing in the shoulder, "Copy cat."

He shoved back, "Princess!"

She shook her head with a smile on her lips, "Do me a favour...and never call me that again!"

"Princess! Princess! Princess!" he chimed playfully and ruffled her hair.

"You twerp!" she ran at him and pushed him over.

"C'mon kids, play nicely now," Kir sighed and rolled his eyes.

Jing and Akemi exchanged glances and then gave Kir puppydog pouts, "But but...we don't wanna!"

"Alright, that's it. I'm gone," he flew over the bridge.

"Hey! Get back here you!" Jing jumped down onto the shore next to the water and was about to run after him when he realized Akemi hadn't followed. He stared back up at the bridge and went wide eyed when she wasn't there, "Akemi! C'mon!"

There was no answer. Just silence. Kir circled around and perched on Jing, "What's up?"

"Akemi...she's...gone."


	4. Chapter 4: Akemi's Fiance! pt2

**Akemi: Princess of Bandits**

**Chapter 4**: Akemi's Fiance! (pt. 2)

**Disclaimer**: I own no characters or concepts from King of Bandit Jing, but I do own Akemi and Prince Caim and several other concepts. But for the most part, a fanfiction is just that therefore most of the concepts are not mine. Meh.

**A/N: **Well, this chapter was certainly very difficult. Not because if inspiration, because this was quite fun to puttogether and I had enough inspiration for it. It's just all the stuff i could do with it and all the things it could have been. It seems my problems consist of either a lack of choices or too many choices. Heh, well, fixed my problem...so far.

Sich freuen, bitte. .

x x x x

**What happned last time:  
**  
"Hey! Get back here you!" Jing jumped down onto the shore next to the water and was about to run after him when he realized Akemi hadn't followed. He stared back up at the bridge and went wide eyed when she wasn't there, "Akemi! C'mon!"

There was no answer. Just silence. Kir circled around and perched on Jing, "What's up?"

"Akemi...she's...gone."

x x x x

All she could remember was watching Jing jump down off the bridge after Kir. In that moment, she'd been happy. The next, she was struggling against a strong force she hadn't been able to see. She made the mistake of panicing. Why had she done that? After being taken to the throne room to be shown to the king and queen, a pill was forced down her throat and she'd fallen alseep. Now she was slowly coming to with a headache the size of the giant coins Jing, Kir and her had gotten a while back.

Akemi sat up suddenly when she felt silk surrounding her. She found she was in a bedroom filled with silk, fine wooden furnature and all things expensive. Her black cloth, net and such had been replaced with a loose black silk shirt with a matching skirt, "What the _hell_!"

"I hope the accomidations are to your liking, Miss. Akemi," came a familiar voice from the doorway. It was Prince Caim.

She glared, "You lost, fair and square! Now let me go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I chose you as my bride and my bride you will be," he said simply, "There's dresses for you to choose from in the closet. We'll be expecting you to dinewith us at six sharp. Farewell," And with that he left heralone with one of the maids.

Akemi sighed, _'Great. Now what am I to do?'_

She suspected there to be guard everywhere, like a prison. She also expected them to be watching for her in case she might try to escape. Of course, she could easily get past them. The problem was she didn't know her surroundings and there were other people other than the guards who'd surely roam the halls, also on alert for her. She could put on a convincing act, but just how close could she get to the front gate before nobody would fall for it?

Akemi watched the maid clean the room from the bed. It was then that she found herself wondering, _'Why me?' _Why that beautiful maid? The maid was very pretty and closer to Prince Caim's age, no doubt. Caim had to be in his early twenties while Akemi was still only sixteen. She wasn't even legal yet. And it wasn't like she was an actual princess. It was just the term bandits used to describe someone of above acceptional talents. It was all getting t oweird for her. There had to be a hidden reason behind it.

Perhaps the cops were in on it. Perhaps this was a plot to elliminate her as a threat to cities and treasures everywhere. But somehow she didn't think they'd do it for that reason alone. Unless there was some fame or fortune going along with it. A marriage to the "former princess of bandits", or taming her, would cause an eruption of popularity amung this kingdom. That had to be it.

Well, she did know a few things; she was not getting married to him and she would not give up both the game and contradict her title so easily. She'd play along for now, figure out the ropes and getout before the wedding. Akemi stepped onto a cold marble floor and walked to the closet. The maid, seemingly not noticing Akemi's presence earlier, finally acknowledged her, "Would you like me to help you Miss? Some of them are quite difficult to handle..."

She smiled kindly at the maid, "Once I choose one, maybe. And call me Akemi. What's your name?"

"My name? It's Molly."

"Well, Molly. How are things run in this place? I'm sure it's much different than my 'live life at the moment' kind of lifestyle," she shoved massive dresses with flowing ribbons and cloths of pinks and bright colours to the otherside of the closet in search of something at least a blue colour or not to flowy.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Master Caim is to become King once you two have married. But for now thinks are run by his parents, Master Malkior and Mistress Lizbet. They're not so bad. They are a peaceful folk and are excited for this marriage," Molly spoke as she continued to clean, "But...seeing as you are the princess of bandits, I do not expect their expectations to be met. Am I correct?"

The statement with the following question was thoughtful, not spiteful. She did not think Molly approved of her being forced into it. Akemi pulled out a magenta, gray and black dress from a sea of pinks, yellows and blues. She glanced at Molly who was grinning, "I believe that dress will look fitting...on a bandit princess. Don't you think?"

Akemi knew it wouldn't be there without the slyness of Molly. She smiled and thanked her, "Life is under no obligation to give one what they want or expect."

Molly nodded knowlingly, "Here, how about you get a relaxing bath in and then I'll show you how these things work?"

x x x x

Jing approached the palace coolly with Kir resting on his shoulder like normally. The two guards reguarded him, "State your name and business with the royal family!"

Jing looked thoughtful, "Hmm...Jing and I'm here for the bride."

The guards jumped at this, "Leave or we will place you under arrest for attempted kidnap!"

"Then I guess you all should be sitting in sing sing with your prince for successed kidnap," he began walking past them.

"How dare you!" the guard pointed a gun at him and fired.

Kir flew at the guard and forced his aim downward as Jing backflipped away landing on top of the second guard. That would be the last of that one for now. A few more shots were fired in his direction, most of which he deflected with his sword. Once close enough, he hit the guard in the back of the head knocking him out.

"Come now Kir. We'll miss the wedding if we don't hurry!" he grinned and began walking through the gates like the king he was famed as.

The halls were like a maze! They took twists and turned in unexpected ways. Staircases would randomly appear seemingly out of nowhere and everything seemed completely perpetual. Though, it wasn't too much of a job for the king of bandits. If he could hike across the universe with living bombs under his care, he could figure this mess of a palace out no problem.

The good thing about the stacked halls was that everytime someone passed, which was pretty often, he could duck down behind something and pass undetected. After a while of doing it repetatively, it became too easy and boring, but, of course, that was countered by the problem of which room Akemi was in. Also, when and where the wedding would take place was a problem as well, though, from his impression of Prince Caim, the palace would be absolutely buzzing over it.

Jing smirked at Kir, "Lets go to the dining hall, shall we?"

"What! Jing, this is no time for food!" Kir hissed so only they could hear.

"Not for food, Kir...for information. It's almost six. People normally eat around this time of day. And even if they don't, I'm sure that someone will be there," and from there they went in search of the dining hall.

x x x x

Molly has escourted Akemi to the dining hall that night. It was huge, and much like those ones you saw in old fashioned movies about kings and queens of far away lands and fairy tales. Once there, Caim stood and pulled out the chair for her. He sat next to her and for a while it was silent as the food was served and everyone ate. Just then, the queen spoke up, "Miss. Akemi, what do you think of the food? We have the best chefs in the world here for the wedding."

It was all Akemi could stand not to speak her mind. Instead of saying what had originally wanted to say, "Oh, so that means it's normally horrible?", in favour of something that wouldn't get her thrown into jail for life, "The food is fine. Obviously better than what I normally get..."

She smiled approvingly and nodded, "Clearly."

More uninteresting gossip ensued between the queen, king, prince and their subjects. She met Caim's uncles and aunts and cousins and such; people and things should could really care less about. When were they going to get into the wedding so that she could plan her next move?

"Well, sister dear," the queen's younger brother, Luck, began, "Tell us more about the wedding."

"Oh, it'll be perfect!" she smiled happily over at Caim, "Everything has been planned and it's in the process of being set up. Tomorrow morning everything will be blissfully wonderful!"

_'Blissfully wonderful? Yeah, pull this leg, it plays fucking jingle bells,'_ Akemi thought being careful to keep the disgusted scowl off her face. The queen was just one big ray of sunshine, now wasn't she? Akemi wondered what she was like when she was pissed off. That would be quite the show for her.

Suddenly, a guard ran in with urgent news, "Your Highnesses! There's been a break in! We found the gate guards unconscious outside and the intruder has just been spotted! We don't have information yet. Everyone who's encountered him is out cold!"

Akemi's heart jumped, _'Jing!'_

The king stood, "Everybody, to your rooms. No one is to come out unless called upon and escourted until tomorrow morning.

The king left with the guard to take care of business and Molly entered soon after to take Akemi to her room. Most of the people were out of the room when the large double doors on both sides of the room slammed shut so that nobody could open them on either side. The only people left were her, Molly, Prince Caim, some servants and a few of his relatives. The younger cousins began to panic when two sets of evil laughter echoed through the dining hall. Akemi smiled, knowing exactly what was happening.

Jing jumped from the balcony making up the perimeter of the room over their heads onto the chandelier. Kir flew down, circled around Akemi and then landed on her shoulder, "Hey Akemi!"

Jing cut down the chandelier landing right on the table and jumped off onto to the table as well. She ran to the table, but didn't get on, "Jing! I can't believe you came!"

"What's not to believe? You didn't think I'd leave you with that perversion of nature, did you honestly? Nice dress by the way..." he laughed.

Akemi rolled her eyes, "Yeah, took me long enough to get into it too!"

"Oh, so then you won't be wanting these for a while?" he held her original cloths up.

She didn't have time to reply, Caim had already called for the guards and they were breaking the doors down as they spoke. Jing held his hand out to her, which she gladly took, and lifted her up onto the table, "Lets hurry out before we have to deal with those annoyances." And with that he picked her up, and took her through a window on the balcony floor above them all.

The night was beautiful. A waxing crescent was rising in the distance and the stars smiled down on them as if celebrating the king's rescue of the princess. It was just like those old fairy tales, but would they really live happily ever after?

Once far enough into the forest surrounding the kingdom, Jing put her down and handed her her clothes back. Kir perched in a tree nearby.

"Thanks Jing...really," she said smiling appreciatively.

"Don't think much of it. I do it all the time, it seems to have become a side job for me," he smiled back and turned away, "I'll let you get dressed...C'mon Kir," Kir flew to Jing's outstretched arm and they sat facing the opposite direction behind a tree. Really quick, Jing turned back to her, "Though Akemi...that dress does look rather nice on you..."

Akemi hid her blush, "Oh...well. Just turn around...flattery will get you nowhere!"

He laughed and did as she said, his smile never fading. Akemi quickly switched to her not so heavy, black tank, net shirt and tights, black combat boots and black skirt. By the timeshe said it was alright for him to turn around again, she was sliding into her jacket.

"Come on now...lets get to our next destination!" Kir said excitedly.

Jing laughed, "Yeah, we have spent a little too much time here."

"Okay, coming..." she had no idea what to do with the dress. Shecouldn't bring it. She'd left her bag in her private treasure stash on the mission before this one. The location of which was still unknown to all but her. Then, she got an idea.

x x x x

Molly stood at the side of the forest staring at Akemi's dress hanging from a tree branch. It looked like she was still in it from the wind blowing inside and through it. She then noticed a note hanging from the collar with her name on it.

It read; "Dear Molly, Thanks for the help and for understanding my situation. I hope I didn't cause any trouble for you, but hey, I gotta do, what I gotta do. Oh, and don't hate Jing and Kir for ruining the dining hall...they ruin every place they go through. But, you probably know that from their rep. They're actually sweethearts once you get on their good sides. Well, take care. We might come back to visit soon! Here's hopin'!"

Molly laughed, "I hope so too, Akemi...princess of bandits."


End file.
